Backed by a presentation with images and quotes of Arthur Ashe Jr., Dontrese Brown makes opening remarks during a discussion at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts about renaming the Boulevard after the tennis champion. (Photo by Sarah King)
More than 150 people gathered in the downstairs auditorium of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Tuesday evening to weigh in on a proposal to rename the Boulevard in honor of Arthur Ashe Jr.
The idea is under discussion for the third time in recent decades, this time championed by Ashe’s nephew, David Harris Jr., and 2nd District City Council member Kim Gray, who sponsored the public forum at the VMFA after rescheduling because of Hurricane Florence in mid-September.
“To me, this is a great opportunity for the city to show our growth and expansion,” Harris told the audience during opening remarks. “We have a multitude of different people, cultures, ideas, high levels of creativity … I’d like to speak to this change — this opportunity we have before us.”
The discussion took place a day after City Council rejected, on a 6-3 vote, a resolution to ask the Virginia General Assembly for the authority to determine the future of Richmond's Confederate monuments. Gray opposed the measure.
In the background of the speakers delivering opening remarks was a slideshow presentation of images of Ashe overlaid with some of his most famous quotes. Other scenes depicted aerial video footage of the Boulevard, while yet others simply said “Act,” “Serve” and “Vote” in black text atop a yellow backdrop.
“I’m a come-here, not from-here,” Dontrese Brown began during his remarks prefacing public comment. “I was brought into this conversation to really change the landscape of our city — to be in a situation where we don’t aspire to be anyone else, people aspire to be us. We’re in a great opportunity right now to really take this by the horns and really show what it’s like to come together.”
Brown said in his research on Ashe, he’s been struck by three core principles that seem to encompass the athletic and cultural icon: purpose, generosity and intentionality.
“He was relentless in everything he did for his city — this city we call home,” Brown says. “How great is it to be a part of something as dynamic as this? Something that really drives through our true spirit?”
When the public comment period began, more than two dozen people lined up at microphones on either side of the auditorium. Many of the speakers were self-identified 2nd District residents or homeowners along the Boulevard, and among that cohort, a majority opposed the renaming, citing issues the address change could create for residents and small business owners.
“There are 367 parcels of property up North and South Boulevard,” says Chris Small, a real estate agent and Boulevard resident for more than two decades, as well as former president of the Boulevard Association. “Those 367 parcels generate more than $300 million of tax revenue a year. The City of Richmond owes us to hear our thoughts first. The name change should come from within the neighborhood, not be forced upon it.”
The current proposal brought forth by Gray and Harris is the third time such an effort has been made since 1993, when the idea debuted but was struck down; the second unsuccessful attempt was in 2003.
Gray says she supports the idea of the Boulevard renaming as long as “we don’t get too vicious,” which was in part the reason why the two prior attempts stymied.
“We’ve entertained this in the past and it has been a bitter fight,” Gray says, noting that Ashe retains “a legacy of courage that impresses our city.”
Other residents expressed reservations or counter ideas about the renaming; many speakers said they like the idea of honoring Ashe, but proposed another road be renamed instead.
One woman delivered an emphatic appeal to keep “the Boulevard” as is, because changing the name could disrupt GPS directions, pizza deliveries or even closely held memories, such as where she had her first kiss.
“Boulevard is home. It is the Boulevard, simple and elegant,” she says. “One suggestion is to rename the Downtown Expressway — it’s larger and more visible for all to see.”
Other speakers also proposed alternative sites for the name change. Carver Civic Association President Jerome Legions suggested the idea of considering not the Boulevard, but Belvidere Street.
“It gives us an opportunity to reimagine Belvidere,” Legions says. “I like the idea of ‘Arthur Ashe Way,’ because Belvidere is the gateway into the city. Can you imagine what would happen to the kids at Carver [Elementary School] if they crossed ‘Arthur Ashe Way’ to get to school every day?”
Other speakers supported Gray’s proposal, including several people who knew Ashe or had encountered him during his time in Richmond, or while playing professional tennis. Although Mayor Levar Stoney was not present as initially scheduled, he, too, supports the proposal.
Representatives from the Scott's Addition Boulevard Association, the Monument Avenue Preservation Society and the West Grace Street Association also expressed their respective group's support for the idea. Representatives from the Fan District Association and Museum District Association said their groups had not decided a position on the matter.
“Arthur not only was a champion of tennis, but he was a champion person,” says Lou Einwick, who was a professional tennis coach and friend of Ashe’s. “Whenever I asked Arthur to do anything for me, he did it — to include the numerous clinics at Byrd Park and numerous talks.”
Indeed, the location of the Boulevard bears considerable significance to the plight Ashe endured in his rise to fame. On one end of the thoroughfare is the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center; on the other, the courts at Byrd Park, where he was barred from practice or play because of the color of his skin.
In response to an opposing speaker’s question to the audience of, "What has Arthur Ashe done for Richmond?" a former classmate and Maggie L. Walker High School alumnus, Maurice Hopkins, responded with an anecdote.
“Recently, a group of [Maggie L. Walker] alumni and other citizens of Richmond got together and — since 1936 — they took on the challenge of finally having a Maggie L. Walker statue done in downtown Richmond,” Hopkins began. “It was phenomenal, it was a chore, but we got it done from its inception to its finish last year, and we’ve gotten nothing but great reviews.”
He continued: “Someone said it’s taken four times over 23 years to have this kind of dialogue,” Hopkins says. “Well, if it’s taken four times — more than four — then it’s obviously important to a lot of people. Someone asked, ‘What has Arthur Ashe done for Richmond?’ Never did he deny Richmond; but Richmond has denied him. I understand it’s difficult, but I want to encourage everyone to take a step forward. Let’s get this done, too.”
